AG Report 10.9.2024

CBS News Punishes Journalism

Activist and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has a new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, largely inspired by a brief visit to the region. While I acknowledge Coates as a skilled writer, I consider him a superficial thinker, particularly evident in his racially charged views which I find to be shaped by animosity and ignorance. This same limited perspective applies to his take on the Middle East conflict, an area where his expertise is even more scant.

Coates’ book is full of errors, generalizations, and outright falsehoods. However, his eloquent writing style often leads those on the left, including members of the press, to mistake his linguistic flair for profound critical thinking or expertise. Consequently, questioning his views has become a grave sin in certain circles. This was apparent when Coates appeared on the CBS News Morning show last week and faced rigorous questioning about the foundations of his opinions and his apparent neglect of counterarguments. While the interviewer maintained professionalism while directly challenging Coates,  this led to an uproar from the activist community who saw the scrutiny as unwarranted.

In response, CBS News has now criticized the interview as not meeting their professional standards and forced their host to attend a struggle session with their “race and culture unit,” but could not justify their criticism when questioned by their staff and others. At the end of the day, the crime that the CBS host seemed to have committed was doing actual journalism. This suggests an underlying issue where newsroom activists expect allies to be exempt from tough questioning and those managing the newsrooms are willing to pander to such activists, revealing a bias that continues to erode the network’s journalistic integrity.

ProPublica Disguises Activism as Journalism